literature

I do consider Alan Moore’s, Light of Thy Countenance, a literary text. To me, literature is any written piece of work and this graphic novel falls into that category. Light of Thy Countenance is a fictional story about a TV star Maureen Cooper. But then that story seems to disappear and Moore focuses on how the world revolves around the television. This strange series of events portrayed into a comic book is literary work. Instead of being a just book with filled with words, it also includes illustrations to help the reader picture the bizarre and complicated story line.

The point of this story is to illustrate the negative influences of the television. As new media and technology are emerging every day, they seem to take over people’s lives causing them to forget about reality. Moore is trying to get this thought across to his audience by stating examples like man being so hypnotized by the characters on television that he does not even care for his loved one anymore. I believe that Moore is being a bit harsh and exaggerated with his point of view on televisions. The way he portrays televisions make them seem powerful with the ability to have power over their viewers. But in reality, we all know that this is not possible.

Even though this graphic novel was a hard read, it has a lot to offer. Stories written from a television’s perspective are not very common so when Moore personifies the television, a different aspect of imagination is created for the readers. This story is also relevant to average people because it provides insight about the history of television and also the effect televisions have on people. Moore’s anti-technology perspective is bluntly illustrated in this graphic novel. But after reading this story, my thought on televisions have not changed because I still believe that they are good source for providing entertainment and relieving stress.